Nintendo’s long-running RPG classic The Legend of Zelda is well known for its varied and creative visuals. In the nearly forty years since the first game’s release, there have been nineteen installments in the Legend of Zelda franchise. With many of these games having unique art styles, it’s no surprise that there have been many memorable character designs over the years.
Whether it's Toon Link, Zelda disguised as Sheik, or Calamity Ganon, every Zelda game presents fascinating new character styles that captivate audiences and keep the story feeling fresh. However, it’s not just the main character designs that deserve some love. Merchants are a beloved staple of the Zelda universe and there have been many intriguing ones across the franchise’s expansive history.
11 Carpet Merchant
This merchant from Ocarina of Time can be found sat atop a flying carpet over quicksand in the Haunted Wasteland. He can be tricky to get to, as Link needs the Hover Boots to reach him, and only sells Bombchus. Despite his lackluster stock, the Carpet Merchant has a very interesting and mysterious design.
Players will never see his face as it is hidden beneath his luxurious mane of hair. Though he is a Hylian, he has a very distinctive long nose. The Carpet Merchant wears an open orange vest, blue pants, and has his hair tied up into a topknot with a green tie.
10 Coro
This laidback merchant from Twilight Princess can be found in Faron Woods where he runs a shop that sells lantern oil. In a cunning entrepreneurial tactic, Coro will give Link a free lantern to ensure he has additional business when it runs out of oil. Coro is nice to Link and is one of the few folk who isn’t afraid of him in wolf form – as he says his sisters are much scarier.
Coro is a human who is found sitting on a tree stump with a large pot of oil slung over his back. He has a large afro in which several local birds make a nested home. One of these birds, Trill, runs another shop for Coro further in the woods.
9 Linebeck III
A descendant of the well-known Linebeck from Phantom Hourglass, Linebeck III appears in the Spirit Tracks game where he runs a small store in the Forest Realm. Much like his grandfather, he is obsessed with treasure and will buy it from Link with Rupees or Spirit Train parts.
Linebeck III looks very similar to his ancestor and is a Hylian who wears a distinctive blue sailor-style coat, red necktie, and boater hat. Later in the game he can be used to collect one of the Force Gems which open up more of the Spirit Tracks in the map.
8 Zunari
In Wind Waker players will come across Zunari, a small man on Windfall Island. He will first enlist players' help to rescue a friend with which he came to the island, but after this he operates a small general store. He will sell Link a sail and later more items when Link makes a Merchant’s Oath with various traveling salesmen.
Zunari came from an island with a much colder climate, which is why is seen wearing his thick blue coat with its white furry hood. When he lowers his hood, players will see that he is a balding man with the sides of his hair gathered into two small pigtails with bows.
7 Town Tool Shopkeeper
This smiling little Hylian man runs the Town Tool Shop in Mabe Village in Link’s Awakening. His shop houses a variety of useful items, and players must choose what they want to buy and pay for it at the counter. He will watch Link closely when he’s in the store, but it is possible to steal by circling him and sneaking away.
The shopkeeper is a small bald man in a blue tunic with a wide, almost eery, smile. However, it is the ruthlessness of his character that makes him most memorable. If players steal from his store and return later, he will shoot them with lightning which instantly kills Link.
6 Malo
Another distinctive merchant from Twilight Princess is Malo, who runs a general store called Malo Mart in Kakariko Village. Malo later also buys out a store in Castle Town and reduces the prices significantly when he does.
Malo is a human child believed to be somewhere around toddler age, however he is strangely mature, soft-spoken, and sarcastic. Malo has a chubby toddler appearance, and wears a white tunic, green waist piece, and orange skirt. He also has his hair tied up with a small purple bow.
5 Kilton
This monstrous merchant from Breath of the Wild runs a mobile business called Fang and Bone which can first be found at Skull Lake in Akkala. Kilton’s store sells only monster-related items and uses its own currency system called mon.
Though Kilton is Hylian, he has a very strange appearance. He is rather short with a large cone-shaped head and grey skin. He wears tattered clothes with a large purple hood that resembles a face when his back is turned.
4 Happy Mask Salesman
One of several recurring merchants in the Zelda series is the Happy Mask Salesman. He appears in Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, and Oracle of Ages. The Happy Mask Salesman makes a living selling rare and powerful masks that give their wearer various strange abilities.
Though his moniker states he is a happy man, this Hylian salesman is very irascible and unpredictable. He is often depicted wearing purple robes and carrying a large backpack covered in masks – including one that resembles Mario.
3 Tingle
Love him or hate him, Tingle appears in five of the canon Zelda games as well as several of his own spinoff games. Tingle is a human man who is obsessed with fairies and believes to be one himself. He is often depicted as a map seller.
Tingle is known for his distinctive green suit which resembles Link’s in many ways. He also has very rosy cheeks and a necklace shaped like a clock. Tingle is often interacted with by popping the balloon he floats around under.
2 Ravio
This merchant from A Link Between Worlds might have a shifty secret, but he also provides a key service to Link during the game. Ravio, after being permitted to stay in Link’s home, eventually transforms it into a store where important items can be bought or rented by Link.
Ravio first appears in a purple robe with a hood that gives him the appearance of a rabbit. He is also accompanied by a bird named Sheerow. Later in the game, Ravio reveals himself to be Link’s Lorule counterpart and is identical to Hyrule’s hero except for his pale skin, dark hair, and green eyes.
1 Beedle
One of the most famous and beloved merchant side characters in the Zelda universe is Beedle. He features in Wind Waker, Minish Cap, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild. In every iteration, Beedle will sell useful items to Link either as a traveling merchant or a more stationery shop owner.
Beedle is instantly recognizable to many Zelda fans thanks to his unique design. Beedle is a tall and lanky Hylian man with a ‘mop top’ bowl cut reminiscent of his believed namesake the Beatles. He has freckles on his cheeks and distinctive red nose which is said to be the biggest of any Hylian.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is scheduled to release on May 12 on Nintendo Switch.